Robert De Niro: I Wish I'd Spoken to My Gay Dad About His Sexuality

The 70-year-old actor gave Out a tour of his father’s old Soho home and art studio, which the younger De Niro maintains as if the older De Niro were still residing there. “It was the only way to keep his being, his existence alive here,” he said.

De Niro expressed regrets about not talking with his father about sexuality. “Being from that generation, especially from a small town upstate. I was not aware, much, of it,” he said. “I wish we had spoken about it much more. My mother didn’t want to talk about things in general, and you’re not interested when you’re a certain age.”

Though his dad died 20 years ago from cancer, the Raging Bull Oscar winner is working hard to preserve his memory. A documentary called Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. premiered at Sundance this year and will air on June 9 on HBO.